This study maps out the major weaknesses of each fragile situation on the latest country performance assessment exercises and identifies overall common issues that need special attention.

While investments in transport, energy, education, health, private sector development, and other areas remain necessary, much more must be done to ensure that these investments are sustainable. Rethinking ADB’s engagement in fragile countries is critically important. This must be backed by a comprehensive understanding of the governance, institutional, political, and social issues that are behind each country’s exposure to conflict or fragility.

Findings show that the weakest areas in fragile and conflict-affected countries are policies for social inclusion/equity, followed by structural policies, and public sector management and institutions. Economic management has generally the highest ranking or is the strongest area in many such countries.

This map shows a consilidated history of tropical storm paths over the past 50 years in the Asia-Pacific region. The area of calm either side of the equator can be seen clearly, leaving Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore and Papua New Guinea largely unaffected by major storms.

In the northern Pacific, island nations such as Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, as well as the territories of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, lie in the path of many of the most destructive storms, which often reach their peak as they hit the Philippines and Japan.

Less frequent but occasionally damaging storms also strike in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. South of the equator, Australia and more than a dozen pacific island nations and territories suffer from regular tropical storms.

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The UN Refugee Agency has welcomed the progress made by the Governments of Indonesia and the Philippines to confirm the nationality of nearly 3,000 people of Indonesian descent living in the southern Philippines. This is one of a series of positive steps taken by ASEAN States since the launch of a global campaign to end statelessness by 2024.

Volker Türk, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, made these comments at a Jakarta panel discussion on 14 November 2016 titled “The Right to Nationality and Ending Statelessness in ASEAN”.

“Since UNHCR launched the #IBelong campaign 2 years ago, ASEAN Member States have made real and quantifiable progress in addressing statelessness, with tens of thousands of stateless persons acquiring nationality and new policy commitments and initiatives made to further the goal of ending statelessness,” said Türk. “The cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines is a good example of how States can work together to resolve this global problem.”

By definition, stateless people are not considered nationals by any State. As a result they often face problems accessing their basic rights and services and being fully integrated into society. Current statistics cover 3.7 million stateless people in 78 countries, while UNHCR estimates that at least 10 million people globally could be stateless.

According to reported statistics at the end of 2015, some 40 per cent of the world’s stateless people – more than 1.4 million – were living in South-East Asia. This included affected populations in Myanmar (an estimated 938,000, not counting those who are internally displaced), Thailand (443,862), Brunei (20,524), Malaysia (11,689), Viet Nam (an estimated 11,000) and the Philippines (7,138).

The causes of statelessness varies across countries. Gaps or conflicts in nationality laws is a key cause, often preventing children from realising their right to a nationality. In some States discrimination in nationality laws can cause statelessness, for example when women are unable to transmit their nationality to children. In other cases the lack of birth registration and resulting difficulties in acquiring identity documentation over generations prevents people and communities from being able to show that they are entitled to nationality under the law. However, as statelessness is a man-made problem, it can be solved.

In recent years, governments in the region have taken concrete steps to try and reduce and prevent statelessness. So far this year, a joint undertaking by Indonesia and the Philippines has confirmed the nationality of 2,957 people of Indonesian descent – including 1,226 children – living in Southern Mindanao. This means that they can finally enjoy the rights and benefits of having a nationality.

Thailand, which is part of the “Friends of the Campaign to end Statelessness” group of countries, has adopted the goal of attaining zero statelessness. Concerted efforts have helped more than 23,000 stateless people to acquire Thai nationality in the last four years.

In addition, the Royal Thai Government this year requested all districts in the country to identify and issue legal status to eligible stateless students in its database – a move that could benefit up to 65,000 students, alongside the clarification of procedures to facilitate processing of applications by stateless persons. In September the authorities also introduced a special regulation on the Immigration Act to extend stateless people’s freedom of movement from the district where they live to the entire province, which could improve their access to rights and services like health care and education, further facilitating their integration into Thai society.

UNHCR is supporting NGO Adventist Relief and Development Agency (ADRA) to open “service points” in different schools in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province where stateless students and their families can obtain nationality-related information and eventually lodge applications for birth registration, nationality, permanent residency and related civil status documentation.

The project helped Manee, 39, a single mother with two daughters from the Lahu “hill tribe”, to attain Thai nationality last month. “I have peace of mind and will keep my Thai nationality card with me from now on,” she said. “I can exercise more rights, and I will vote in every election I can. I can also move freely to see my cousins if I want to. And I can finally take advantage of the public services that will also be beneficial for my children.”

In Malaysia, civil society is playing a crucial role in engaging the affected community and resolving documentation issues. More than 700 stateless people have been granted Malaysian nationality so far this year with the help of UNHCR’s partner, the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (DHRRA). UNHCR is also working to raise awareness amongst children, teachers, students and lecturers through teaching toolkits and university workshops, and supporting NGO campaigns such as the “Journey to Belong” social media platform and the “Bring to Light/stateless children” campaign.

UNHCR welcomes the new partnerships that are being formed. Children will be the focus of the Coalition on Every Child’s Right to a Nationality, a joint UNHCR-UNICEF-civil society initiative to be launched on December 8 at the UNHCR High Commissioner’s Protection Dialogue on “Children on the Move” in Geneva.

“In our work across East Asia and the Pacific, we see that children who are denied a nationality are also denied their most basic rights,” said UNICEF Regional Child Protection Adviser Stephen Blight. “Statelessness pushes children into a lifetime of marginalization and vulnerability, which is perpetuated across generations. Birth registration is a vital tool to protect against this and close the equity gap – it is fundamental to address and challenge statelessness among children.”

The importance of preventing statelessness through birth registration was recognized in a Ministerial Declaration adopted by 44 States across the Asia Pacific in November 2014. States signed up to the goal of universal civil registration and vital statistics systems by 2024 and to address gaps in civil registration coverage for hard-to-reach and marginalized groups, including stateless persons. The Sustainable Development Goals, which provide the framework for global development, recognize the importance that no one is left behind, including in achieving legal identity for all, including birth registration by 2030.

At the regional level, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) agreed in October to include a project on the right to a nationality for women and children and the building of the ASEAN Community in its 2016-2020 Workplan. This will build on a series of regional workshops and consultations co-hosted by Viet Nam’s Representatives to the Commission and UNHCR which began in 2013.

“The ACWC project will provide a new platform for ASEAN countries to identify and share good practices, learn from their peers and strengthen national and regional capacity to further realise the right to a nationality for ASEAN’s women and children. These efforts can contribute to realizing the ASEAN Community Vision 2025,” said Her Excellency, Madame Lily Purba, Indonesia’s Representative for Women’s Rights and the Chair of the ACWC.

CABARROGUIS, Quirino, Nov. 15 (PIA)—Gov. Junie E. Cua here has assured full support to the evacuees during emergencies as he urged the Nutrition In Emergencies (NiEm) team here to work hard for the nutrition and health needs of the residents who will be evacuated due to disasters.

Cua said nutrition is one of the concerns in disaster risk reduction management because if the evacuees especially the marginalized groups are not taken care properly, they will be prone to illnesses caused by malnutrition.

He also assured the provincial government’s full support to the needs of the vulnerable groups such as the infants, children, elderly, lactating & pregnant women, persons with disabilities and others.

For her part, Provincial Nutrition Officer Luningning Pacudan Rhodes said the role of the nutrition cluster is crucial in emergencies in order to prevent death and protect the right to nutrition.

“Affected populations during emergencies are more likely to experience malnutrition because of lack or inadequate food and water, poor access to health services, civil insecurity and inadequate delivery of assistance. Population groups who are already malnourished even before the emergency are more vulnerable to illness and death during emergencies,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes added that emergencies can also result to three nutritional concerns such as acute malnutrition marked by muscle wasting; chronic malnutrition manifested by stunting or being short or having low height-for-age and impaired physical and mental development in children.

The components of Nutrition in Emergencies generally include these five interventions -nutrition assessment; infant and young child feeding protection, support and promotion; management of acute malnutrition; micronutrient supplementation and other interventions which can be food or non-food-based interventions.

Around 40 percent of the world's estimated 10 million stateless people live in southeast Asia

By Beh Lih Yi

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)ind - After years of living in legal limbo, nearly 3,000 stateless people in the southern Philippines have been granted nationality by Manila and Jakarta this year, U.N. officials said on Monday.

The 2,957 people - including 1,226 children - are part of a group of some 9,000 people of Indonesian descent who have for generations lived in southern Mindanao in the Philippines.

Seafaring communities have crisscrossed the seas between the Indonesian part of Borneo island and the southern Philippines for centuries.

The group was given Philippine or Indonesian nationality this year in a move welcomed by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR as a step toward an ambitious global goal to end statelessness by 2024.

"The cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines is a good example of how states can work together to resolve this global problem," UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for protection Volker Türk said.

UNHCR estimates there are about 10 million stateless people worldwide, with large populations in Myanmar, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the Ivory Coast.

About 40 percent of them live in Southeast Asia, according to the U.N. agency.

Sometimes referred to as "legal ghosts", stateless people are not recognised as nationals by any country and as such, they are deprived of the basic rights most people take for granted.

Many of the stateless Indonesia descendants living in southern Mindanao interviewed in a 2014 UNHCR mapping study said they struggle with daily challenges including access to employment, livelihoods, education and clean water.

Under an old law, Indonesians would lose their citizenship if they lived abroad for over five years without registering with the Indonesian authorities.

Although the law was reformed later and Indonesians can reacquire their citizenship, many people do not formally apply for it and remain stateless, according to the UNHCR.

Meanwhile, in Thailand, which has one of the world's largest stateless populations, UNHCR said 23,000 people have been given Thai nationality over the last four years.

Many of Thailand's stateless are from hill tribes, with ancestral ties to their territory and are ethnically different from the Thai majority. Others are children of illegal migrants who fled to Thailand, particularly from Myanmar.

On 14 November, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck northeast of Christchurch on South Island at a depth of 15 km. The media reported at least two people were killed. Following the earthquake, a two meter tsunami was recorded in Kaikoura. The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) immediately issued a tsunami land warning for the East Cape to Southland, including Wellington and the Chatham Islands but has since been cancelled. A state of emergency was declared in Kaikoura.

Evacuations were conducted along the coastal areas with local authorities leading the response. The National Crisis Management Centre is activated to provide support as required. To date, no international request for assistance has been made.

INDONESIA

Between 10 and 13 November, incessant rains across Java Island and in Aceh and Jambi provinces triggered floods and flash floods. It is estimated that tens of thousands people were affected, although some local governments were unable to provide data as the floods rapidly receded. In Jambi, one person was killed by flash floods. As the rainy season is expected to continue until March 2017, the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) warned that 41 million people across Indonesia are at moderate or high at risk of landslides.

41 Million people at risk of landslides

MYANMAR

From 8 to 10 November, WFP distributed 60 tons of food to about 7,200 people in four villages of northern Rakhine State which have been inaccessible since the 9 October armed attacks. While this limited access is welcome, thousands of people remain in need of humanitarian assistance with up to 15,000 people displaced in the area of security operations. In addition, 260 ethnic Rakhine IDPs remain displaced in Buthidaung and Maungdaw.

Humanitarian services, including food, cash and nutrition for more than 150,000 people, have now been suspended for more than a month. Advocacy continues for access to conduct assessments, deliver life-saving assistance and resume regular services. On 12 November, new clashes were reported in Rakhine State leading to an unconfirmed number of deaths arrests.

15,000 people displaced

PHILIPPINES

As of 10 November, about 31,000 people are displaced in Region III (Central Luzon) by Typhoon Haima, which hit the Philippines on 19 October. Of the total number of displaced people, 3,600 people remain inside evacuation centres in the provinces of Tarlac, Bulacan and Pampanga. Nearly 270,000 houses were destroyed, mostly in Cagayan and Isabela provinces. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to lead the government’s transition to recovery, providing emergency shelter funds and cash-for-work programming to affected families.

We have launched a new monitoring system called Conflict Alert that allows conflicts to be analysed and compared in different regions in the southern Philippines.

Conflict Alert tracks violent conflict in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Davao and Caraga regions, which are all part of the Mindanao island group.

The system is the only regional conflict tracker that exists in the Philippines. It is an upgrade from the Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System (BCMS) that covered the ARMM and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela, and the Southern and Eastern Mindanao Conflict Database (SEMCD) that tracked the Davao and Caraga regions. These lie along Mindanao's southern and eastern corridor.

Although the BCMS was hailed as a pioneer of conflict monitoring in the Philippines, its geographic scope was limited. The SEMCD expanded the analysis of conflicts from one to three regions.

By combining these databases, Conflict Alert will improve our understanding of violence in the southern Philippines, which is a major site of rebellion, criminal violence, and shadow economy-based conflicts.

“With this new system, we can generate the evidence to check the incidence, causes and costs, and trends and directions of violent conflict. It will greatly help in policy making, development planning and peacebuilding for the areas covered”, said Francisco J. Lara Jr., our Country Manager in the Philippines.

The ARMM, Davao and Caraga regions comprise of 15 provinces and nearly half the population of Mindanao. They also occupy over half of Mindanao's total land area. The ARMM, the Philippines’ poorest region, hosts Moro rebels while the Davao and Caraga regions host communist insurgents. The government, led by new President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently in peace negotiations with both of these groups.

“Conflict Alert findings highlight the need to retire these rebellions. Political conflict, specifically rebellion, results in the highest number of conflict deaths among other causes of conflict. It also discourages investments and stunts development”, said Nikki Philline de la Rosa from our Philippines team.

The full findings have been published in our new Conflict Alert report, which can be downloaded here.

Nearly a hundred representatives from government agencies, non-government organisations, universities, donors, embassies, and businesses attended the launch of Conflict Alert. Among those present was the World Bank’s Country Director for the Philippines Mara K. Warwick, who said the organisation remained strongly committed to peace and development in conflict-affected areas of the country.

Hernani A. Braganza, a member of the government panel negotiating with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, also attended. He said the data will help to push for a bilateral ceasefire with communist rebels.

Conflict Alert is funded by the Korea Trust Fund for Economic and Peace-Building Transitions, the World Bank, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Royal Norwegian Government.